New Rams special teams wrinkle might be the biggest preseason takeaway

The Los Angeles Rams felled the Dallas Cowboys in the first preseason game by a score of 31 to 21. There are plenty of winners and losers from the game. But if you have a discerning eye, you may have noticed something more about the game, a new wrinkle.

The NFL continues to tinker with kickoff regulations, creating more headaches for Los Angeles Rams ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn. The league has refined the touchback rule, moving the spot from the 30-yard line to the 35. When it was at the 30, the Rams seemed content to force a touchback. But with the new 35-yard spot?

Not exactly. That’s thanks to some impressive offseason work between Coach Blackburn and kicker Joshua Karty. Of three kickoffs, two landed in the “Landing Zone” — the area between the opponent’s goal line and the 20-yard line. As a result, the Cowboys returned those kicks to the 30-yard line, the 32-yard line, and the 26-yard line.

Which begs the question: Are the Rams finally developing strategies around the new kickoff rules? Have the Rams effectively weaponized their kickoffs to their advantage? So it would seem.

Ethan Evans makes punting look like a cheat code

While you ponder over the implications and advantages of weaponizing the new kickoff rules, let's pivot to the other component of special teams play that seldom gets discussed. I'm referring to Rams punter Ethan Evans and the sensational debut he had for the team in the first preseason game. The Rams only punted twice in this one, but they are worth discussing.

Let's get right to it. Evans averaged a Kryptonian 72.5 average yards per punt, with his longest booming punt travelling 81 yards. That is from the Rams' 19-yard line into the Cowboys' end zone. Those are the types of punts that win games, but never get discussed.

But wait, there's more.

On his first attempt, he punted the football from the Rams' 27-yard line to land at the Cowboys' one-yard line, before it bounced out and came to rest at the six. No return. But a horrible penalty on gunner Charles Woods for running out of bounds on his own forced the Rams to do it all over again. This time, he punted the football from the 22-yard line to the Cowboys' 14-yard line.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys were able to put together a 24-yard punt return.

Had the penalty never happened, Evans' net punting average for the game would have topped 70-plus yards. As it now stands, his net punting average remains very impressive.

LA will continue to search for the optimal gunners to unleash the full fury of Ethan Evans in games. But the first glimpses of what the Rams special teams have been up to are very impressive indeed. I am eager to see how the team uses these new abilities. And as always, thanks for reading.

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